Site Administrator Swing Trader Data Scientist & DevOps
Manta, Ecuador
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Trading: Futures & Crypto
Posts: 50,084 since Jun 2009
Thanks: 32,547 given,
98,533
received
Announcing the new Big Mike Challenge contest! Starts March 1, 2012 - ends March 31, 2012.
The contest will be based on Trading Journals. The point of this contest is to encourage members to create trading journals, and to reward those with the best journals (which will in turn help more members on the site improve their own trading).
I will be giving away five prizes totaling $750, as follows:
First place winner: $250 gift card from Amazon.com
Second place winner: $200 gift card from Amazon.com
Third place winner: $150 gift card from Amazon.com
Fourth place winner: $100 gift card from Amazon.com
Fifth place winner: $50 gift card from Amazon.com
To be eligible:
Be a current futures.io (formerly BMT) member as of March 1st 2012.
Have a Trading Journal on futures.io (formerly BMT). Regular or Elite section, up to you.
If you are posting in a non-journal section on the forum, and you want your thread to still be considered as a journal, no problem. Just post a link to your thread in this thread, and I will make sure it appears on the voting selection so long as you meet all the other requirements.
Make one post per day, every day, Mon-Fri, in your trading journal for the entire month of March.
Majority of your posts at minimum must contain at least one screen shot or video (youtube, etc) of your trades (sim or cash).
You need to regularly post a summary of your trading day, like a description of trades and how you did for the day, your strengths and weaknesses, etc. There must be some content in the post.
The post must be made on futures.io (formerly BMT), not a link to your blog or other off-site location. You can post the summary content on futures.io (formerly BMT) but embed a YouTube video, that is fine.
You must post pretty much every single day to the journal. Don't skip a few days and then post all at once.
You must answer peoples questions as much as possible. No "secret sauce" journals.
The winners will be chosen by a public voting poll comprised of the members on futures.io (formerly BMT). Big Mike has the final say in all decisions and will act as tie-breaker if needed.
The voters will be directed to only consider the posts made within the March time frame, and to not consider the length of the journal or the content within the journal prior to March 1st. This is to keep everything as fair as possible and to only judge based on an equal amount of opportunity to make posts.
If you want to make a prize substitution, you can work it out with me at the end of the contest. I don't have a problem so long as it is simple to award the prize to you, or to make a donation to your charity of choice, etc.
Tip
Please do me a favor and encourage all your trading buddies to start a journal. Please post this on Twitter, Facebook, or on other trading sites (keeping within their rules and guidelines).
Remember to start your journal no later than March 1st! I will come back on March 1st and make a list of the eligible threads.
I first want to say Congratulations to everyone who posted to their trading journal during the month of March! Judging from all the feedback I received, nearly 100% of you that actively participated in your own journal said that you benefited from it …
I don't really mind a contest as doing a journal here has helped me immensely already. Though I agree it's a great idea and could spark more interest into doing a journal and help others like I was, initially anxious and uncomfortable or unmotivated, then found I liked or got hooked into it. I feel the journal category in a way has an effect of simulating a virtual prop firm in some small way in that the multiple journals are kind of like a team effort of mutual parallel endeavor with some degree of sharing, yet each is also working on their individual goals. And this is the best place to do a journal on the web.
Have not done a journal before but after reading Big Mike's praise of his journal experience I think it is time. I have been "trying" to read Al Brooks book on trading price action trends, reading up on the forum postings and will use the journal to track my progress (or lack of progress). Aught to be fun.
Site Administrator Swing Trader Data Scientist & DevOps
Manta, Ecuador
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Trading: Futures & Crypto
Posts: 50,084 since Jun 2009
Thanks: 32,547 given,
98,533
received
On March 1st, I'll gather up all eligible threads and make a list here. You are free to post a link as well here before then.
The main reason you need to post a link is if your journal is outside the normal two journal areas, and you still want it counted as a trading journal.
I have been day trading full time for 3 years. First 2 years stocks and E-mini with little success. Finally, i found a method which suits my style and i have been day trading Crude Oil for over a year now. My trading method is based off Mark Fisher ACD …
The following 2 users say Thank You to mfbreakout for this post:
Good morning Mike, please consider me for this contest. I've opened a journal in the "journal" section of futures.io (formerly BMT). My new thread is named Day Trading For Income.
I may miss a few days the 3rd week in March due to spring break with the kids.
I look forward to learn from everyone participating. Good luck to all!
The following 2 users say Thank You to apena47 for this post:
This is my contest journal for the Big Mike Challenge 3 - Win $750 in prizes. I will trade live and document my month of March 2012 here, trading ETFs and eminis. NO FEAR.
thank you
The following 2 users say Thank You to Tiberius for this post:
Site Administrator Swing Trader Data Scientist & DevOps
Manta, Ecuador
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Trading: Futures & Crypto
Posts: 50,084 since Jun 2009
Thanks: 32,547 given,
98,533
received
So long as you are not in ANY WAY affiliated with the vendor, are not a vendor yourself, etc etc etc, then yes it is fine assuming the post does not read like an advertisement.
First and foremost it's about Psychology. We can learn methods, write rules, prepare a trading plan, create a great trading environment, and set oneself up for success. Since we were probably already successful in other endeavors, it's just another …
The following 2 users say Thank You to rpm123 for this post:
good idea! the thought of writing in the journal prompted me to go over some of my trades today, and i noticed something important. looking forward to march! i'm writing in "maisie's journal".
Du sublime au ridicule, il n'ya qu'un pas. ~Napoleon Bonaparte
The following user says Thank You to Maisie for this post:
Site Administrator Swing Trader Data Scientist & DevOps
Manta, Ecuador
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Trading: Futures & Crypto
Posts: 50,084 since Jun 2009
Thanks: 32,547 given,
98,533
received
Happy to see all the new journals lately!
Contest starts tomorrow. Sometime late tomorrow or possibly Friday I will update this thread again with a list of all the journals that I see as active. You can feel free to post links to your journal in here as well.
Tip
Remember, the futures.io (formerly BMT) members will decide the winners of the contest. So keep your journal inviting and answer questions that people ask. I also know from the past that Video journals are quite popular, so if you want to do a video journal or a post with a video in it every now and then, I highly recommend it.
You can use free software such as Camstudio (not Camtasia, which is not free) to record your screen without limitations, then upload the file to YouTube and embed the YouTube video to your post (click the word YouTube for instructions on embedding). Another option is Jing (google it) which is also free, but has a limit of 5 minutes and the videos cannot be embedded. For this reason I recommend against it, as hardly anyone will click and watch a non-embedded video.
Same...to be eligible can someone still working on their strategy/plan participate? Must one post actual trades taken every day, can one not take any trades on some days, or can can journal entries consist of other progress towards trading goals?
Site Administrator Swing Trader Data Scientist & DevOps
Manta, Ecuador
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Trading: Futures & Crypto
Posts: 50,084 since Jun 2009
Thanks: 32,547 given,
98,533
received
I'm not really going to say one way or the other, because the winners will be selected by members and not me. But I think that you need to be trading one way or another daily to keep the journal active, so I will leave it to other members to decide. Just create the journal and you will be included in the list of people.
Any good journal, if it aspires to be instructive at all, MUST start with A PLAN.
Without a plan there is no ability to monitor performance, and with one there is a guaranteed destination at the end of this journey. Without a plan there is no …
(especially if you are in red :-) )
I look forward to enjoying this journaling.
A BIG thank you to Big Mike for taking this initiative and for everything!
(Especially Especially for hosting Al Brooks seminars - unforgettable opportunities, so I joined in from 1:30 AM to 3:30 AM from India)
Thanks, and hope to have a lot of visitors take back something of value from my postings.
Regards,
iqgod
The following user says Thank You to iqgod for this post:
This is a first time journal prompted by Big Mike's March challenge. I've been trading for about a year using Al Brooks price action methods - results so far have been inconsistent, mostly due to lack of discipline in following the plan. Hoping …
The following 2 users say Thank You to permeant for this post:
March Madness trading journal
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This journal is for the March Madness trading journals.
My goal is to take $20,000 and move it to $50.000 by the end of the month, LOL!
Philosophy: I focus on day and short term trading via market profile and technical analysis. I look for optimal trade location that provide asymmetric risk to reward opportunities.
Markets: I trade Gold, Crude Oil and E-Mini S&P futures.
Strategy 1: …
..........
peace, love and joy to you
.........
The following 2 users say Thank You to aquarian1 for this post:
I'm in, officially started tonight. It is too late to come up with an introduction and the full story for today, but the important thing is that I have started the journal with my first post on futures.io (formerly BMT). Amazing people hang out here and I feel at home already. Cheers!
Starting the journal for the March challenge. I will try to get the list of trades from today and post them soon, then get back with more about myself, my trading strategy, and so on, tomorrow. Surprisingly, my strategy did well today, so I am starting …
The following 3 users say Thank You to Pajot for this post:
I need to start a journal and this is a good a time as any.
I need to develop discipline if I am to trade.On this forum discipline was described as doing something you don't want
to do,So true.
I read somewhere that one way to develop a new habit …
First and foremost it's about Psychology. We can learn methods, write rules, prepare a trading plan, create a great trading environment, and set oneself up for success. Since we were probably already successful in other endeavors, it's just another …
I will be trading US equities: discretionary on a 3-minute chart, but using a 30-min to identify support/resistance. I will be looking for pullbacks in trends, rejection of S/R, or break outs of S/R. I have a frustrating tendency to seek counter-trend …
What better way to kick off Leap Year Day 2012 than starting a journal here on futures.io (formerly BMT), right? I totally agree. So let's get to it ...
Mini Bio
I've been a part-time trader off and on for a few years. By design, my 'day …
Philosophy: I focus on day and short term trading via market profile and technical analysis. I look for optimal trade location that provide asymmetric risk to reward opportunities.
Markets: I trade Gold, Crude Oil and E-Mini S&P futures.
This is my first post in my new journal. In it I will attempt to document my set ups, my reasoning behind why I took the trades, along with the emotions I was feeling during the trades.
I will also attempt to post a chart daily and at least once a week, …
Over the past few months my trading focus has shifted from intraday futures trading to stock swing trading. The reason for the switch is partly because the pace of swing trading suits my personality, and partly because I've put a great deal of time …
Any good journal, if it aspires to be instructive at all, MUST start with A PLAN.
Without a plan there is no ability to monitor performance, and with one there is a guaranteed destination at the end of this journey. Without a plan there is no …
I've been putting this off because I wanted to get it perfect, but that's impossible of course. It was only guaranteeing I wouldn't start a journal at all. So here goes, a list of my trading mistakes.
Starting the journal for the March challenge. I will try to get the list of trades from today and post them soon, then get back with more about myself, my trading strategy, and so on, tomorrow. Surprisingly, my strategy did well today, so I am starting …
Surfing is often used as an analogy to trading, and most traders dream of catching the big waves. But, similar to trying to surf monster waves, if you haven't acquired the necessary skills to do so, you 'll probably wind …
I am very green at trading. I took trading instruction recently from Adam Milton. If you have had a bad experience with Adam please don't air that here. The trading courses/info thread may be a better forum for that.
Purpose:
The purpose of this trading journal is to publicly record my trading journey that both I and others may learn and grow from my mistakes, as well as, provide a form of accountability with other traders. The reason I am trading is for independence, …
This is my contest journal for the Big Mike Challenge 3 - Win $750 in prizes. I will trade live and document my month of March 2012 here, trading ETFs and eminis. NO FEAR.
I have been day trading full time for 3 years. First 2 years stocks and E-mini with little success. Finally, i found a method which suits my style and i have been day trading Crude Oil for over a year now. My trading method is based off Mark Fisher ACD …
Can someone explain why so many people lose their money day tradin if SEC requires 25k account min. Do they turn to swing trading after they can't meet minimum?
I am a supply and demand day trader. I mix in Wyckoff techniques and try to focus heavily on my psychology and emotional state. I've traded for five years and would not say that I've broken out as a consistently profitable trader. I am an expert …
This is my first time posting my thoughts and trading journal to the public. I used to keep a book and review my methods on my own. I found that there are many traders who share their thoughts and methods which has slowly helped me expand my toolbox.
Ok, we're going to start this again. Changed brokers, platforms, and even strategy. This journal will be how a journal should be. Some immediate goals for this journal are:
Discipline: Stick to the plan, do not exit prematurely, do not enter …
i am starting a thread to show that price forecasting is indeed possible once we think out of the box. attached is the price forecasting for S&P500 emini for 21 Nov 2011. I will be recording my forecast for a few markets when possible.
History: I've been trading since the end of 2008 (great time to start huh?). I started very small and for the first 3 years I would describe my style as semi-actively managed. It mostly consisted of picking solid companies with decent growth outlooks …
Joined a few weeks ago, would of started this sooner, but ended up doing some building work for my parents. This forum seems pretty friendly with some good discussion, so here we go.
Planning a few things, so this thread will be an …
Hello!
The strategy that I use is scalping. Trading instrument: future russian index RTS (. Basic tactics: following world indexes (ES, DAX), Brent oil and the Russian MICEX index (. Also use volume in the DOM. Technical indicators: MACD and moving average. …
About me
I go by Bermudan Option. The name refers to stock options that have both American style option characteristics and European style option characteristics. The country Bermuda is used to describe this type of option because from a geographical …
Well ive decided that im going to start a journal. I always feared to do it (not sure way, but I guess it has something to do with being accountable for what I do) well Im not really active in forums generally I read a lot but I usually …
Thank you for reading my journal. All opinions are welcome.
About me: I have been interested in trading for about ten years, but started to trade life few month ago. I have small working capital and a day job. Looking to trade part time with part time …
I started system trading in 2010 but I want to learn to trade by hand and eye too. So I'm going to launch headlong into it - price action will be my method and the spot Euro will be my market.
As a mechanical trader, I thought previously that discretionary …
I've decided to continue my journal here from the "upwind trading journal" in the regular journal thread. I am attempting to change a lot of my approach.
Goals:
1) improve my swing trading primarily on the ES (and eventually the CL and maybe …
Hi everyone I'm PowerBroker. I wanted to start a thread for PA trading and hopefully get some mentoring on trading PA in ES. I have been trading and learning trading for 2.5 years now. I have traded live at 2 different times and got FUBAR both times. …
Encouraged by BigMike i decided to post my daily trading results, thoughts and comments in a journal.
I currently simtrade FESX using my variation of Perry's method.
I will post my template, backtest results and some screenshots later on.
My Goal …
I'm currently trading the FESX on sim using a value based approach in an attempt to get backing from these guys: Learn to Trade, Trading Coaches, Simulated Futures Trading (
I am convinced that my lack of success so far has been down to poor discipline …
I have attached my indicators on a later post. I now use NT7 over TradeStation as it is free, and I really like chart trading as well as some of the other features. I am not LIVE again yet! Not until I can be more effective with NT7. :)
--------ORIGINAL …
Greetings. First I'd like to thank Mike and all the members who've made this a congenial and useful community - I've been able to get some great things from this site in the month or so I've been lurking and I look forward to more of the …
Trading one year and have a big draw down to prove it. I want small steady profits. OK, Mike, I'm journaling for accountability and want to stop changing things. Was on TF but switched to ES when TF started jumping around like a flea on a griddle. …
This is a first time journal prompted by Big Mike's March challenge. I've been trading for about a year using Al Brooks price action methods - results so far have been inconsistent, mostly due to lack of discipline in following the plan. Hoping …
I am starting my own trading journal today - I hope this posting is in the right place.
Although I am not prepared to share my systems, I will report my trades in full and share some lessons that I have learned over the past 10 years of trading. Before …
I saw an email about the journals, and thought, that really is a good idea. But then woke up in the middle of the night and could not get back to sleep till 4 - I normally wake up at 4:30-5 to begin my day. So today, no trading for me. Journal just a …
This is my first online trading journal for CL. I've kept a private journal of live and sim trades for about 6 months - all the time flailing around, changing my methods and trying to find an 'edge'. It hasn't been pretty.
I will try my best too. My journal can be found here, I will publish there my first paper-trades on Monday, March 5.
Thanks once again for the challenge!
Firstly I would like to say a big thanks to the members of this site. Fat tails, Silvester, Bloom and Big Mike for creating this space to engage with other traders. I have appreciated your help with indicators, posts and insights.
That being …
The following user says Thank You to Disciple for this post:
I am a struggling trader. I have been trading for 12 months. Unfortunately, I am not yet able to make a living from trading. So take anything I say in my journal with a pinch of salt. I am NOT a professional …
Maybe if it is not to much trouble, the admin could send an email when they are running another contest like this.
I am not sure of the logistics involved...just a thought.
I wanted to apologize for my previous cheeky post to all who felt offended by it...
Honestly, I must say I am the same. Without this contest, I might have still be found standing at the door (of trading journals) hesitating. It is not that I was far away from starting one. It is just that the contest gave me the necessary nudge and so I speeded up a couple of things (as can be seen from my first week of paper trading...).
For all that, I would like to encourage you to really start one no matter what.
I started one not because of the vision of any prize (well, I trade a market that does seem much less popular than all those US indices and stocks ) but only because I wanted to make the final step.
Since last week I have learned a lot. About market, about myself, about my relationship with (not "to" because it is really a two-way relationship) the market. It is an invaluable experience. Do not let the opportunity slip.
get on with your journal which as you said that would be very good for your own self in terms of improving, documenting and trading. we all felt young and reckless sometimes, K? 3 cheers.
I love that title. A slave's quest for freedom. That is what started me on the entreprenurial path 20 years ago. Good luck, you picked a good instrument for movement.
Site Administrator Swing Trader Data Scientist & DevOps
Manta, Ecuador
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Trading: Futures & Crypto
Posts: 50,084 since Jun 2009
Thanks: 32,547 given,
98,533
received
Congratulations to all those who participated in our March Journal contest!
I will be posting in all the active journals, asking all of you to spend a few minutes and give us a summary of your experiences throughout the month of March, and how the journal has changed your trading.
Please reply to me in your own thread, as I make those posts.
Over the next few days, I will create the Polls so that everyone can start voting for the best journals to win our contest prizes.
Site Administrator Swing Trader Data Scientist & DevOps
Manta, Ecuador
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Trading: Futures & Crypto
Posts: 50,084 since Jun 2009
Thanks: 32,547 given,
98,533
received
The voting is now open.
I used the listing from post #34, and a few posts that followed, to compile the list of eligible journals. I checked each link and eliminated the journals that were not active.
You may vote for as many journals as you want in the poll. Just keep in mind the general rules of the contest (you can use your discretion, and vote accordingly):
- Make one post per day, every day, Mon-Fri, in your trading journal for the entire month of March.
- Majority of your posts at minimum must contain at least one screen shot or video (youtube, etc) of your trades (sim or cash).
- You need to regularly post a summary of your trading day, like a description of trades and how you did for the day, your strengths and weaknesses, etc. There must be some content in the post.
- The post must be made on futures.io (formerly BMT), not a link to your blog or other off-site location. You can post the summary content on futures.io (formerly BMT) but embed a YouTube video, that is fine.
- You must post pretty much every single day to the journal. Don't skip a few days and then post all at once.
- You must answer peoples questions as much as possible. No "secret sauce" journals.
Cast your votes below. The poll will remain open for 2 weeks (closing April 17th), at which point I will show the poll results publicly. As a reminder, the prizes are $750 in total, as below:
- First place winner: $250 gift card from Amazon.com
- Second place winner: $200 gift card from Amazon.com
- Third place winner: $150 gift card from Amazon.com
- Fourth place winner: $100 gift card from Amazon.com
- Fifth place winner: $50 gift card from Amazon.com
tried to vote and just disappears ... , no confirmation?
"Successful trading is one long journey, not a destination" Peter Borish Former Head of Research for Paul Tudor Jones speaking on conversations with John F. Carter
same here, using Chrome, I tried twice,
each time, after clicking "vote" button, automatically go to the last post in this thread.
I assume the vote is done already. :-)
I used the listing from post #34, and a few posts that followed, to compile the list of eligible journals. I checked each link and eliminated the journals that were not active.
You may vote for as many journals as you want in …
Site Administrator Swing Trader Data Scientist & DevOps
Manta, Ecuador
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Trading: Futures & Crypto
Posts: 50,084 since Jun 2009
Thanks: 32,547 given,
98,533
received
I first want to say Congratulations to everyone who posted to their trading journal during the month of March! Judging from all the feedback I received, nearly 100% of you that actively participated in your own journal said that you benefited from it and that it greatly improved your trading.
I am posting the Top Ten results below just for the sake of perspective. Only the top five have won prizes:
Congratulations to the five winners:
@GaryD - 1st place prize, $250 gift card to Amazon.com
@PandaWarrior - 2nd place prize, $200 gift card to Amazon.com
@mfbreakout - 3rd place prize, $150 gift card to Amazon.com
@Gabriyele - 4th place prize, $100 gift card to Amazon.com
@VinceVirgil - 5th place prize, $50 gift card to Amazon.com
I will contact the winners via private message shortly.
Firstly, I am checking the website in the mid-afternoon India time and here is Big Mike posting the results of the contest in the wee hours of the US morning!!
The most deserved has truly won – @GaryD congratulations my friend! Your journal was marked by the deepest insights, nay it was almost as if you had opened up your mind like a transparent globe and were pouring out great ideas multiple times every day. Your journal has been, and continues to be, invaluable and true to every trader's heart - and your visit to my journal was even more so!
Also, to all others – hearty congrats! I loved reading most of these journals.
It was my very first time journaling (and by that I mean - not first live public journaling, but even the first journal I have ever kept about trading can be attributed to Big Mike). The contest acted as an agent, but the chemical reaction to your trading is akin to alchemy! You get what you put in, and the more you help others the better you become!
Looking forward to more such contests, and may the best person again win!
The following 2 users say Thank You to iqgod for this post:
Site Administrator Swing Trader Data Scientist & DevOps
Manta, Ecuador
Experience: Advanced
Platform: Custom solution
Trading: Futures & Crypto
Posts: 50,084 since Jun 2009
Thanks: 32,547 given,
98,533
received
Yes I messed up, only did top nine by accident when selecting data in Excel. Don't want to redo everything to print a new pie chart at this point, sorry.
Thanks everyone. But more than being thankful for the votes the journal received, I am most appreciative of the comments that have collected there over the past year from other traders, and to have read that it helped a few, resonated with a few, generated some good conversations. Thanks Big Mike for bringing the contest to life, which brought more commentary to the journal recently.
